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Mary Edwards Walker (November 26, 1832 – February 21, 1919) was an American feminist, abolitionist, prohibitionist, alleged spy, prisoner of war and surgeon. As of 2015, she is the only woman ever to receive the Medal of Honor. In 1855 she earned her medical degree at Syracuse Medical College in New York, married and started a medical practice. She volunteered with the Union Army at the outbreak of the American Civil War and served as a surgeon at a temporary hospital in Washington, DC, even though at the time women and sectarian physicians were considered unfit for the Union Army Examining Board. She was captured by Confederate forces after crossing enemy lines to treat wounded civilians and arrested as a spy. She was sent as a prisoner of war to Richmond, Virginia, until released in a prisoner exchange. After the war, she was approved for the highest United States Armed Forces decoration for bravery, the Medal of Honor, for her efforts during the Civil War. She is the only woman to receive the medal and one of only eight civilians to receive it. Her name was deleted from the Army Medal of Honor Roll in 1917; however it was restored in 1977. After the war, she was a writer and lecturer supporting the women's suffrage movement until her death in 1919. ==Early life and education== Mary Edwards Walker was born in the Town of Oswego, New York, on November 26, 1832, the daughter of Alvah (father) and Vesta (mother) Walker. She was the youngest of seven children: she had five sisters and one brother. Alvah and Vesta raised their both their son and their daughters in a progressive manner that was revolutionary for the time. Their nontraditional parenting nurtured Mary's spirit of independence and sense of justice that she actively demonstrated throughout her life. While they were devoted Christians, the Walkers were "free thinkers" that raised their children to question the regulations and restrictions of various denominations. The Walker parents also demonstrated non-traditional gender roles to their children regarding sharing work around the farm: Vesta often participated in heavy labor while Alvah took part in general household chores.〔 Walker worked on her family farm as a child. She did not wear women's clothing during farm labor, because she considered it too restricting. Her mother reinforced her views that corsets and tight lacings were unhealthy.〔Graf, 2010, p 11〕 Her elementary education consisted of going to the local school that her parents started. The Walkers were determined that their daughters be as well-educated as their son, so they founded the first free school house in Oswego in the later 1830s.〔 After finishing primary school, Mary and two of her older sisters attended Falley Seminary in Fulton, New York.〔 Falley was not only an institution of higher learning, but a place that emphasized modern social reform in gender roles, education, and hygiene.〔 Its ideologies and practices further cemented Mary's determination to defy traditional feminine standards on a principle of injustice. In her free time, Mary would pour over her father's medical texts on anatomy and physiology; her interest in medicine is accredited to her exposure to medical literature at an early age.〔 As a young woman, she taught at a school in Minetto, New York, to eventually earn enough money to pay her way through Syracuse Medical College (now the State University of New York Upstate Medical University), where she graduated with honors as a medical doctor in 1855 as the only woman in her class.〔 She married a fellow medical school student, Albert Miller, on November 16, 1855, shortly before Mary turned 23.〔 Mary wore a short skirt with trousers underneath, refused to include "obey" in her vows, and retained her last name, all characteristic of her obstinate nonconformity.〔 They set up a joint practice in Rome, New York.〔Graf, 2010, p 91〕 The practice did not flourish, as female physicians were generally not trusted or respected at that time.〔Walker, 2010, pp. 26-27〕 They later divorced, on account of Miller's infidelity. Walker briefly attended Bowen Collegiate Institute (later named Lenox College) in Hopkinton, Iowa, in 1860, until she was suspended for refusing to resign from the school's debating society, which until she joined had been all male. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mary Edwards Walker」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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